Browsing by Author "Mendes, Berta"
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- An improved and fast UHPLC-PDA methodology for determination of L-ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids in fruits and vegetables. Evaluation of degradation rate during storagePublication . Spínola, Vítor; Mendes, Berta; Câmara, José S.; Castilho, Paula C.This study provides a versatile validated method to determine the total vitamin C content, as the sum of the contents of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA), in several fruits and vegetables and its degradability with storage time. Seven horticultural crops from two different origins were analyzed using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatographic-photodiode array (UHPLC-PDA) system, equipped with a new trifunctional high strength silica (100% silica particle) analytical column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm particle size) using 0.1% (v/v) formic acid as mobile phase, in isocratic mode. This new stationary phase, specially designed for polar compounds, overcomes the problems normally encountered in HPLC and is suitable for the analysis of large batches of samples without L-AA degradation. In addition, it proves to be an excellent alternative to conventional C18 columns for the determination of L-AA in fruits and vegetables. The method was fully validated in terms of linearity, detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) limits, accuracy, and inter/intra-day precision. Validation experiments revealed very good recovery rate of 96.6 ± 4.4% for L-AA and 103.1 ± 4.8 % for total vitamin C, good linearity with r(2)-values >0.999 within the established concentration range, excellent repeatability (0.5%), and reproducibility (1.6%) values. The LOD of the method was 22 ng/mL whereas the LOQ was 67 ng/mL. It was possible to demonstrate that L-AA and DHAA concentrations in the different horticulture products varied oppositely with time of storage not always affecting the total amount of vitamin C during shelf-life. Locally produced fruits have higher concentrations of vitamin C, compared with imported ones, but vegetables showed the opposite trend. Moreover, this UHPLC-PDA methodology proves to be an improved, simple, and fast approach for determining the total content of vitamin C in various food commodities, with high sensitivity, selectivity, and resolving power within 3 min of run analysis.
- Effect of time and temperature on vitamin C stability in horticultural extracts. UHPLC-PDA vs iodometric titration as analytical methodsPublication . Spínola, Vítor; Mendes, Berta; Câmara, José S.; Castilho, Paula C.Several fruits and vegetables from Madeira Island (Portugal) were evaluated by two analytical methods for their total vitamin C content (l-ascorbic acid, l-AA and dehydroascorbic acid, DHAA). DHAA was determined indirectly with DL-1,4-dithiotreitol (DTT) applied as a pre-column reductant. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array (UHPLC-PDA) determinations were compared with l-AA content obtained by a classic iodometric titration method. The stability of vitamin C in horticultural extracts stored at different temperatures was also investigated. Red peppers represented the better source of vitamin C followed by green peppers and papayas. Passion fruits and cherimoyas were the analyzed foodstuffs with lowest vitamin C content. Both analytical methods were suitable for l-AA analysis in various food commodities, the UHPLC-PDA technique being preferred due to its advantages of selectivity, speed and accuracy. The degradation study showed that horticultural extracts were stable at least 24 h at 4 °C and during 4 weeks when stored at −80 °C.
- A new and fast methodology to assess oxidative damage in cardiovascular diseases risk development through eVol-MEPS–UHPLC analysis of four urinary biomarkersPublication . Mendes, Berta; Silva, Pedro; Mendonça, Isabel; Pereira, Jorge; Câmara, José S.In this work, a new, fast and reliable methodology using a digitally controlled microextraction by packed sorbent (eVol(®)-MEPS) followed by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis with photodiodes (PDA) detection, was developed to establish the urinary profile levels of four putative oxidative stress biomarkers (OSBs) in healthy subjects and patients evidencing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This data was used to verify the suitability of the selected OSBs (uric acid-UAc, malondialdehyde-MDA, 5-(hydroxymethyl)uracil-5-HMUra and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine-8-oxodG) as potential biomarkers of CVDs progression. Important parameters affecting the efficiency of the extraction process were optimized, particularly stationary phase selection, pH influence, sample volume, number of extraction cycles and washing and elution volumes. The experimental conditions that allowed the best extraction efficiency, expressed in terms of total area of the target analytes and data reproducibility, includes a 10 times dilution and pH adjustment of the urine samples to 6.0, followed by a gradient elution through the C8 adsorbent with 5 times 50 µL of 0.01% formic acid and 3×50 µL of 20% methanol in 0.01% formic acid. The chromatographic separation of the target analytes was performed with a HSS T3 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm in particle size) using 0.01% formic acid 20% methanol at 250 µL min(-1). The methodology was validated in terms of selectivity, linearity, instrumental limit of detection (LOD), method limit of quantification (LOQ), matrix effect, accuracy and precision (intra-and inter-day). Good results were obtained in terms of selectivity and linearity (r(2)>0.9906), as well as the LOD and LOQ, whose values were low, ranging from 0.00005 to 0.72 µg mL(-1) and 0.00023 to 2.31 µg mL(-1), respectively. The recovery results (91.1-123.0%), intra-day (1.0-8.3%), inter-day precision (4.6-6.3%) and the matrix effect (60.1-110.3%) of eVol(®)-MEPS/UHPLC-PDA method were also very satisfactory. Finally, the application of the methodology to the determination of target biomarkers in normal subjects and CVDs patients' revealed that the DNA adducts 5-HMUra and 8-oxodG levels are much more abundant in CVDs patients while no statistic differences were obtain for MDA and UAc. This result points to the importance of 5-HMUra and 8-oxodG as biomarkers of CVDs risk progression and further epidemiological studies are needed to explore the importance of this correlation.